diff --git a/lfs3.c b/lfs3.c
index 264a9b78..4dedb3b7 100644
--- a/lfs3.c
+++ b/lfs3.c
@@ -16355,34 +16355,28 @@ static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
     #endif
 
     // do we have any pending work?
-    uint32_t pending = flags & lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL;
-
-    while (pending && (lfs3_off_t)steps > 0) {
+    while ((flags & (lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL))
+            && (lfs3_off_t)steps > 0) {
         // start a new traversal?
         if (!lfs3_handle_isopen(lfs3, &mgc->t.h)) {
-            lfs3_mgc_init(mgc, pending);
+            lfs3_mgc_init(mgc, flags & (lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL));
             lfs3_handle_open(lfs3, &mgc->t.h);
-        }
 
-        // don't bother with lookahead/gbmap if we've ckpointed
-        #ifndef LFS3_RDONLY
-        if (lfs3_t_isckpointed(mgc->t.h.flags)) {
-            mgc->t.h.flags &= ~LFS3_T_LOOKAHEAD;
-        }
-        #endif
+            // prioritize lookahead/gbmap before any work that may need to
+            // allocate
+            if (lfs3_t_islookahead(mgc->t.h.flags)) {
+                mgc->t.h.flags &= ~(
+                        LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_MKCONSISTENT)
+                            | LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_COMPACT));
+            }
 
-        // will this traversal still make progress? no? start over
-        if (!(mgc->t.h.flags & LFS3_GC_ALL)) {
-            lfs3_handle_close(lfs3, &mgc->t.h);
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        // do we really need a full traversal?
-        if (!(mgc->t.h.flags & (
-                LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_LOOKAHEAD)
-                    | LFS3_GC_CKMETA
-                    | LFS3_GC_CKDATA))) {
-            mgc->t.h.flags |= LFS3_T_MTREEONLY;
+            // do we really need a full traversal?
+            if (!(mgc->t.h.flags & (
+                    LFS3_IFDEF_RDONLY(0, LFS3_GC_LOOKAHEAD)
+                        | LFS3_GC_CKMETA
+                        | LFS3_GC_CKDATA))) {
+                mgc->t.h.flags |= LFS3_T_MTREEONLY;
+            }
         }
 
         // progress gc
@@ -16397,8 +16391,6 @@ static int lfs3_fs_gc_(lfs3_t *lfs3, lfs3_mgc_t *mgc,
         // end of traversal?
         if (tag == LFS3_ERR_NOENT) {
             lfs3_handle_close(lfs3, &mgc->t.h);
-            // clear any pending flags we make progress on
-            pending &= lfs3->flags & LFS3_GC_ALL;
         }
 
         // decrement steps